


Portal One Shots

by Pineflower



Category: Portal (Video Game)
Genre: Other, Tags will be updated
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-09-28 10:22:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10092098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pineflower/pseuds/Pineflower
Summary: A work of Portal fics that will vary depending on the prompts received.





	1. Paint and Portals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Chell and Doug Rattman meeting for the first time.

Neither of them knew how to react when they caught sight of each other.

Chell did not know this man, but it was the first human she had been able to see on the surface. Despite caked blood on his legs and looking like he hadn’t eaten a decent meal in many ages, he was still alive. The lab coat made her wary, but the idea of not being alone out here helped drive that cautious mindset into one of excitement.

Doug on the other hand, knew Chell well enough. At least, he knew of her. Plenty of moved files and ransacked cabinets told him enough about this woman. She was tenacious beyond any other human and never gave up. Not in any circumstance. Even though he knew that, it was still a bit of a shock to see her finally tasting fresh air and not rotting away in a collapsing facility. He had sealed the box she was in, yet she managed to escape it all.

Doug had done his deeds, putting Chell into an indefinite sleep and then falling asleep himself in a near-by cryostasis pod. He was lucky to be alive. His leg was infected, but he had still managed to wake back up and escape the collapsed facility after quite some time. He could only question what Chell had gone through after waking up herself. 

They both approached cautiously, neither of them speaking a word or making contact when they got close. They just looked over one another. The blood stains and bruises. The cubes. The history. Both of them had been intertwined by fate for so long and only now, after battles against unseen enemies, could they finally meet face to face.

Tension made the air feel as solid as a hard light bridge. Neither of them uttered a word or a sound to each other. Glances were made to various parts of each other, checking for injuries or weapons. Other than their cubes, both were unarmed. Unarmed and silent. 

After a moment, Chells eyes turned to the space behind Doug, staring at the building in the distance. It was one of Apertures surface labs. While it was an unwelcome sight, it told one thing. Which direction to go to get away from it. Unused roads would work to lead to shelter and across the massive fields of wheat were distant forests. Some shade from the blistering sun would help. 

Chell started walking. With her companion cube held tight, she moved towards one of the nearby paths, only stopping one time to look back at Doug with an expression that asked: you coming?

Even without any introduction and with what little trust there was between them, Doug followed and they walked.

Away from Aperture.


	2. Please Stay Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Caroline and Chell meeting before the activation of GLaDOS.

“Chell, you know that you shouldn’t be in here right?”   
  
The secretary approached the test subject who was leaning against the counter in the break room, taking slow bites out of an apple. The only response Caroline received was a shrug.  
  
“Oh, don’t just shrug it off. If anyone else saw you in there, they’d have a fit. …Luckily for you, I’m not “anyone else”.” Walking over, Caroline slid her clipboard onto the counter and stood beside Chell. While the test subject finished eating, she looked her over. While the bright orange jumpsuit hid bruises, it was too new and clean to not be able to see any cuts on the fabric or blood seeping through.   
  
“….did you leave because of your injuries?” Chell stayed quiet and turned away, moving to the other side of the room to throw away the apple and avoid the question.   
  
“Gosh…I told Mr. Johnson before he died that we needed to phase out human testing. Too many people get hurt! I need to have the engineers invent a…a cooperative testing initiative. With robots! They’re working on the…The GLaDOS project…might as well do that while they’re all on robots…” Caroline went quiet, seeming to have rather cold feelings about the project mentioned. “…Then we could get rid of human test subjects. You wouldn’t have to be shot at by turrets anymore.”   
  
Chell had turned around by now, having a rather questioning expression about the secretary’s cold tone about this “GLaDOS” thing.   
  
“…Huh? Oh don’t worry dear. It’s nothing.” Grabbing her clipboard, Caroline walked back towards the door and glanced at Chell on the way out.   
  
“Don’t stay in here for too much longer, okay? Ah…look at me still talking when there’s science to do. Experiments to be run. Research to be done.   
  
… and Chell?   
  
Please _stay alive_.”


	3. Corruption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A rewrite of something between a GLaDOS and Wheatley rper.
> 
> Wheatley tries to help GLaDOS get rid of the itch, but there are consequences to his actions.  
> [WheatDOS]

GLaDOS had not been doing well as of late. She was getting more distant and was barely keeping in contact with the other cores. Out of them all, Wheatley was the most worried. With how close he was to the central core, being blocked out was like a slap to the face. It was just…odd. GLaDOS never stayed this isolated from the others. Even the facility itself, being an extension of Her, had gotten much quieter.

_“…OH BLOODY ‘ELL. Okay. I’m gonna check on her today. Whether she likes it or_ not!” Wheatley let out a groan to the other cores that stood around him. He had been on edge, worried for Her since the moment she stopped any contact.

Rick came up, immediately speaking reason to the blue eyed core. “Come on bud. I know you’re worried for the lady, but she’s probably just busy-“

_“Too busy to even say a good morning to me? Come on mate! Something has gotta be wrong with her! She’d tell me if something were up…”_ His voice droned out only to come back with yet another irritated groan. _“…Nope. No I’m gonna go in there. She’ll let me in! I just know it!”_ Before any of the others could get a word in, Wheatley stormed off to the central chamber, knocking on the door with a balled fist.

_“…Luv? Luv are you in there? It’s me! Wheatley! I just- uh- wanted to check up on ya and see if you needed anything since it’s been like…a WEEK since you talked to me. Come onnn please open up!”_

Wheatleys rambling to be let in continued for another few minutes before the door let out a click to show it was unlocked. His face immediately lit up. _“Ahhhh thank you!”_

When the door slid open, Wheatley scrambled inside the central chamber. It looked as it normally did. Wide, domed ceiling, panels fanning out from every side with optics that watched your every move. The three floor panels where the elevator, transfer port and the maintenance portion seemed unused as of late. In the center, where GLaDOS’s chassis had once been was a chair connected to the ceiling by dozens of wires. Around it was screens viewing many of the different areas of Apertures halls. The only thing about the room that was different was the overly dimmed lights. Any light was coming from the optics of both cores, the screens and the panels around them.

And in the chair sat GLaDOS. She was facing away from the entrance, but what could be seen showed she was exhausted or currently occupied with something rather tiring. _“…Ello luv….Are…Are you alright? Gosh you look bloody terrible! Have you been doing stuff non-stop this whole week! I know you’re built for this and all, but um…You should take a break! I can go make us some tea or something if you’d like! It’d only take a minute!”_

**“….I’m fine Wheatley.”**

GLaDOS’s voice echoed through the whole chamber and it definitely wasn’t friendly.

_“Um….Well okay! Then..Is something wrong luv? You haven’t spoken to us- to ME in a week! I’m worried about ya…”_ Wheatley slowly approached, his eyes casting a bright blue glow over Her. _“….Please luv. What’s wrong?”_

There was a sigh and slowly, GLaDOS looked up at him, a frown pursing her lips. **“….It’s just the coding of the mainframe. For some reason, it seems a bit more persistent on making me test. I’ve had a headache all week because of it. I know the programming is supposed to make this ‘itch’, but I have no clue as to why it’s gotten stronger. I’ve just been getting a little overwhelmed by it.”**

Wheatley frowned, but nodded. He could recall his time in the mainframe and how _overpowering_ the itch to test could be. If SHE was being affected by it though, that really said something. With a hum, Wheatley spoke up again after a moment.   _“Well…maybe I could help! What if you tried plugging me into the mainframe! I- don’t give me that look! Let me explain.”_

He set his hands on his hips before talking again. _“If it’s effecting you, than it’s pretty big and who knows what would happen to me so…why don’t you partially plug me in! You keep main control, but I could take some of the edge off of the itch. Then you could work! And if I try anything, you could just…tie me down or something? I dunno.”_

**“….Hmm…”** GLaDOS’s eyes narrowed, yet she did seem to be considering it. Wheatleys ideas were normally horrible, nothing of substance usually, yet this idea seemed to be something at could work. With them both plugged in, GLaDOS could work without the entire itch being forced on her.

**“….Alright.”**

_“…WAIT REALLY?!”_

**“I did not stutter Wheatley. Just remember though. One wrong move and I will make you regret it. I may…care about you more than I did once, but I can’t forget what happened last time you were connected.”**

With a wave of her hand, wires fell from above, surrounding Wheatley in a couple of seconds. One of them looked a bit bigger than the others and was revealed to be the connection wire. The others were there for …safety. **“Okay Wheatley. Plug yourself in. Reminder that even though it’s not a full transfer _, it will still hurt.”_**

_“…I- Wait wot?!”_ Wheatley had already grasped the wire and placed it in the port on the back of his neck, resulting in a nasty shock that let a screech erupt from his body. Luckily, the pain didn’t seem to last long and when he calmed down, the connection to the facility was evident. It wasn’t as strong of a connection as when he took over all that time ago, but it was there and it was powerful. For a moment, he felt big. The whole facility was part of him and while he couldn’t control it, he could see it. Tests. Halls. Offices. Even the surface was just a thought away.

It didn’t take long for the itch to set in though. It came slowly. Like the feeling of slowly dosing off, the itch creeped into his mind from the back. Inch by inch, a crave to test SOMETHING forced itself into Wheatley mind. With a groan, he sat down on the platform that GLaDOS’s chair rested upon. Oddly enough, it was getting much stronger than he expected. For a few moments, the itch came on slow. Then it came in waves. It was almost…drowning him.

**“Ah yeah. This did clear my mind Wheatley. For once, you actually had a slightly decent idea. The itch is barely eve- Wheatley?”**

He hadn’t even noticed that his hands had come up to grip the hair on the sides of his head tightly, but he didn’t really care. Something was forcing its way into his mind and it was getting physically painful to even think much. Pain was definitely there. His mind felt like a warzone between him and something else. The itch? That was probably it…right?

The pain didn’t stop and slowly, Wheatley curled into a ball. That was what started to worry the central core. While She had expected him to be a bit more…susceptible to the “itch”, it wasn’t ever supposed to be painful. GLaDOS knew she had a tolerance to the testing itch, but even this was unusual. **“….Alright. You can’t handle this. I’m disconnecting you.”**

As she reached a hand forward to pull the plug on his connection to the mainframe, one of his hands shot up to stop hers with a grip of iron.

**“…Wheatley what’s going on? If you’re in pain, let me take you off. I can handle this programming for a bit longer. Now let go!”**

Her normally commanding voice didn’t even make the blue eyed core flinch. Slowly, Wheatley began to laugh. It was a low chuckle yet quickly fanned out to a maniacal cackle. He began to stand back up, the laughter calming back down to the quiet, almost corrupt giggles. Seeing that something was definitely wrong, GLaDOS shot the wires out to bind his arms around his torso and suspend him slightly off of the ground. Standing, she approached to get a good look at him. **“….Wheatley?”**

_“…Heh….heheh….._  
Oh LUV. You should know beTTEr than tO let sOmEone like HIM into the mainframe. He’s sooooo….  
EASY to get iNto. 

_But noW I’m fREE. Free from the bINDS of ThE mainframe…and You’RE next.”_

Wheatley raised his head to reveal a set of bright, red eyes.

_“Just you wait.”_


	4. Hello Caroline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Chell meeting Caroline before GLaDOS's reactivation.

Chell hadn’t seen the little metal ball since he crashed her into the facilities tests and halls.

The chambers that she had traversed what only felt like yesterday, were crumbling and covered in organic life. Sunlight, the natural stuff, streamed in from holes in the panels. She was so far down, but not far enough that the sky wasn’t visible. The blue was there. Barely.

Wheatley had told her to find a gun. With her previous knowledge of these tests and how portals worked in accordance with this facility, it didn’t take her long to get her hands on an ASHPD. One portal color only. Hopefully it’d last her long enough to get through this god forsaken place. These rooms did not bring back fond memories. Memories of walking through, barely surviving bullet fire while snarky remarks echoed out from hidden speakers.

The little ball didn’t show back up, but that didn’t slow Chell down. It wasn’t like there were many places to go down here. Most of the hallways were blocked off by debris. Holes and un-jumpable gaps were plenty. Slowly, she made her way through, recognizing the scenery, despite its decay. Luckily, some of the power was still there and she made her way through rusted doorways and eventually caught sight of something. This hallway had been a bit chilling to come upon the first time she was here. Now that it was dark and silent, it was even more terrifying. The hall held one viewing room of windows which looked out over a hazy gap. In the center, a cylinder rose from the mist, towering above the dots that were the testing chambers. HER chamber. Chell knew all too well that the AI was dead, but the flicker of fear was still present. _Wheatley said there was an escape route or something. It has to be there_. There was only one way in. A long, collapsing bridge that passed over to it.

Wishing that her little companion was still around, she started walking tenderly across to the massive chamber. While she never spoke herself, she had been surrounded by some sort of noise most of the time. Whether it be snarky remarks, jazzy music, or just the gentle hum of the facility, there was always some sort of background noise. Now, there wasn’t even the sound of birds. Just occasional creaks of collapsing and bending metal. Then silence.

Chell got halfway across the bridge before stopping for a moment. She hoped Wheatley was okay. Sure, he could run his mouth, but at least he was company in here. Looking down where she had come, she looked for blue or a flash of moving metal. Yet there was nothing. Not a voice, not a movement. Sighing, Chell turned back to the opposite end of the hall where the entrance to GLaDOS’s chamber was….

to see a woman.

She looked transparent and that gave Chell the conclusion that she was probably going mad from lack of other humans. Yet that didn’t stop her from sprinting to the figure. As she approached, the figure, a woman from the looks of it, turned to the closed door yet didn’t leave. When she reached the door, Chell slowed to look at the person there. They hadn’t disappeared yet, which was odd. It had to be some form of hallucination.

The woman turned to smile gently. She still appeared transparent, but her features were clear. Long brown hair, chestnut eyes, a red and white scarf tied around her neck and a pristine white dress. It was as white as the panels once were.

_“….Hello Chell.”_

Chells light blue eyes shot to the other woman’s face and she jumped back in shock. Her mouth opened, but the question never came out.

_“Yes, I do know your name. I know quite a bit about you actually…but we should head in. This bridge is unstable.”_

The woman moved forward, the sensors not picking her up. Yet she didn’t slow, phasing right through the metal of the door. To make sure that she did not lose sight of this person, Chell ran after her, glad that the facility could still open the automatic doors. The person was still there, walking towards the debris in the center of the massive chamber. Even without approaching, Chell could see the outline of a faceplate, wires streaming out of the connecting metal. Yet the optic was black. She was off.

Swallowing any fear that had risen in her throat, Chell entered the chamber, moving to stand beside the woman. She had stopped in front of the massive AI, staring at it sadly.

_“….The Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System. GLaDOS. …did you know that She’s actually not an artificial intelligence? She was human once. A human ripped from their own body and stuffed into a machine.”_

Chell stared at the other person, frowning slightly at what was spoken. It was just a hallucination, yet it could speak and move and think for itself.  Maybe it was a ghost or something. She wished she could speak, to ask who this person was. Why they were down in a place like this, void of life and humanity.

Yet, the person moved on before she could even mouth a word. Deciding that she didn’t want to be alone in THIS room, Chell scrambled after her, trying not to trip over collapsed panels and cords. The woman stopped, leaning down to touch the machines face. _“….Your core friend is coming this way. He’ll be here shortly.”_ She stood to look Chell in the face, rather solemnly. _“…Please remember something Chell. Stay strong down here. Things may look bad, but you need to stay strong. …and I’m sorry._

_…..I don’t hate you.”_

The woman moved forward to set her hands on both of Chells cheeks. Despite there being nothing there, Chell could feel faint warmth from the contact. It was…comforting.

**“….AH! ELLO LUV! THERE YOU ARE! HEY IT’S ME WHEATLEY!”**

Chells head shot in the direction of the core as he rolled in on his management rail for as long as it allowed. He seemed nervous and let out a huge sigh at the sight of GLaDOS. **“Oh thank god she’s off! Where were you?! I was looking all over! Only found you cause of some footprints in the dust! Pretty smart of me! Come on. This way! Uh…I’ll need a hand though. Can’t go farther than this.”**

Chell nodded and looked back at where the woman had been….

yet she was gone.


End file.
